Cinema for Brunch MAY DECEMBER Review

“May December” is an imperfect, captivating film about identity and character, fueled by terrific performances and layered direction by Todd Haynes.

Synopsis

Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance, a married couple buckle under the pressure when a Hollywood actress meets them to do research for a film about their past.

Review
Our obsession with Hollywood’s dramatization of true crime has always been a fascinating topic in studies of society, culture and entertainment. Smash hits such as Netflix’s “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” are both revered and criticized for their subject matter: terrific performances and shocking dramatizations of murder are widely noted while dramatization of such a monster and his evil deeds are widely condemned. It’s a conundrum of a genre that will not stop being popular – nor criticized – anytime soon (this is why Lifetime is still in business, low budget and bad dialogue be damned). Ever the subversive storyteller, director Todd Haynes takes this obsession Hollywood has with true crime and flips on its head with his newest film “May December.” The term “May-December” refers to a romantic relationship with a huge age gap between its partners. Haynes’ film revolves around actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) meeting and studying the inspiration for her next big role, Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore) as well as her marriage to the extremely young Joe Yoo (Charles Melton). Loosely inspired by the scandalous true story of Mary Kay Letourneau, Gracie is a woman that was once imprisoned for starting a predatory romantic relationship with Joe when he was underage. Twenty years, a divorce and many kids later, this couple is awaiting the graduation of their youngest children, Charlie (Gabriel Chung) and Mary (Elizabeth Yu). In comes Elizabeth, doing recon for what could be the role of a lifetime while also inserting herself into an inevitable emotional shitstorm.

The biggest strength of “May December” – in all its imperfections – is the film’s shrewd choice to focus on character over plot. We have the three key players – the gaslighting wife, the docile husband and the manipulating starlet. Starting with the character Gracie, she is a perfectly written puzzle box all on her own. She acts naïve to her environment, clueless to the hate (and shit-filled offerings) she receives in the mail. She thinks the illegal, immoral means as to how she met her second husband is irrelevant and to her, age is just a number. On the other hand, she is incredibly aware of her designed naivete, even going so far as to explicitly telling the character Elizabeth that she knows she is naïve and later stating that she is a “secure” person rather than insecure (in one of the best needle-drop moments in recent memory). Essentially, she is a perfect manipulator (even to Elizabeth’s stunned chagrin), posing herself as an innocent victim rather than a heartless perpetrator. This is an excellent performance in which Haynes’ periodical partner-in-crime Julianne Moore executes brilliantly. She first appears onscreen as an innocent, lovely housewife (reminiscent of one of Haynes and Moore’s previous collaborations, 1995’s “Safe”), with a cute lisp to boot and soon unravels as the creator of her own image and design. Trying her best to see through the fluff, Natalie Portman also stuns as Elizabeth, an actress that also has a manipulated visage. Elizabeth appears as the respectful type, recognizing (or rather stating) that Elizabeth’s story is not so black-and-white as it may seem and that she wants to bring integrity to the story. Bullshit, as you may have already figured out. This is a juicy role for Elizabeth’s career and she will do as much snooping and sneaking around Gracie to really sink her teeth into her “character”, even pushing herself to almost become Gracie as well. Portman’s Elizabeth may be a bit one-dimensional in her motivation but the situations she puts herself in are anything but.

Posed as one of the most tragic figures in this whole ordeal (we’ll touch on another tragic figure later), Charles Melton’s performance as Joe is one that sneaks up on you. It’s nuanced design as the film’s trojan horse (so-to-speak) is not revealed until a late, climactic scene. Through most of the first half, Melton isn’t given much to work with except to be submissive, quiet and almost-childlike. It almost feels as if this is a character just exists to have Gracie’s sins on full-display (alongside their children). It’s not until an emotional confrontation with Gracie (paired with an uncomfortably hilarious heart-to-heart scene between Joe and his son Charlie earlier in the film) where Melton gets to show off his acting chops and let the tears and emotion fly. It’s also where the film gives the audience it’s most obvious, painful truth – Joe is not just a submissive husband to Gracie, he’s still a child to her – someone she can manipulate into sex, manipulate into starting a family, manipulate into thinking what they have is love and not some sick long game of control. It’s a well-crafted moment of character development on screenwriter Sammy Burch’s part when crafting this character. Another tragic figure of this film is Georgie (Cory Michael Smith), Gracie’s son from her previous marriage. In a scene-stealing moment, Georgie tells Elizabeth about the moment he found out his mom was cheating on his dad with Joe, his high-school friend. Smith carries an anxious, volatile energy when he’s onscreen, the type of energy any man who has unresolved trauma with his mother would carry with him into his adult years. Character takes precedent over “May December’s” sparse, somewhat predictable plot and with such juicy dynamics here, no one can blame Burch and Haynes for making such a decision.

Haynes wears many influences on his sleeve while directing this funny, psychological cat-and-mouse game of identity and character. One of Todd Haynes’ many strong suits as a director is the blocking of his characters – taking inspiration from psychological hits such as Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona”, some of the film’s most powerful shots are those of Gracie and Elizabeth both staring at the mirror. In these shots, Elizabeth studies Gracie – her makeup routine, her lisp, her whole essence – while (it could be argued), Gracie also studies Elizabeth. Putting both game players in front of a mirror, each watching and studying the other, perfectly reflects the film’s theme of identity and character. While its plot may lack sustenance, the strength of Sammy Burch’s script comes from unpeeling the onion of these core characters’ motivations and baring their true colors. Another great factor working in the film’s favor is Marcelo Zarvos’ terrific melodramatic score (noted in the credits as being adapted from Michel Legrand’s score from the film “The Go-Between”). Haynes makes terrific use of the score, playing it in the most random and ironic of moments (Gracie simply stating “I don’t think we have enough hotdogs”) or in moments of scandalous revelation, all working towards the director’s gift of deconstructing the melodrama.

Closing Thoughts
“May December” isn’t perfect when it comes to its plotting but its well-pitched in its character design. Moore, Portman and Melton all belt out great performances under Haynes’ careful direction. Sammy Burch crafts an imperfect script about imperfect people and their own personal trappings, trappings made by their own design. There are victims and there are perpetrators and the film as a whole takes the Bard’s “all the world’s a stage” quote to dazzling life through the dynamic of these three characters. While it may not be the best chapter in his filmography, Todd Haynes’ “May December” is sure to convert any doubter into a follower of the diverse director’s work.

Trailer

Learn more about the film here.